LATE QING DYNASTY

While the present suit of armor would have been made for ceremonial purposes only, its construction was based on armor used for protection in battle. Each regiment of the Eight Banner army wore uniforms in the colors of their banner. The dark-blue ground of the present uniform would have been reserved for a member of the Cavalry Brigade Banner, assigned to protect the capital city. A comparable dark blue-ground suit of ceremonial armor is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (acc. no. 42.8.331B-I), and is illustrated in R. D. Jacobsen, Imperial Silks: Chi’ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Volume I, Minneapolis, 2000, pp. 344-345, no. 136.